Preposterous Vision

My friend Chuy saysit is peyote leached into the soilthe corn grows fromthat gives Mexicanssuch a remarkable sense of color.The bright pigments of imaginationflood his canvasses.His peyote dreams leak out into the real worldand wed it to create one world.“Peyote dream” becomes its opposite—a freight train taking us into the universal truth.A larger reality.This stalk of corn, this deer,this head of amaranth,all beckon, “Climb aboard.”

So when you bite into a tacoor tamale, when the round taste of cornmeets your tongue, and pleasure flowsin a lumpy river down your throat,look up at what is standing in the shadowsand see that it is light that creates shadow.See the many colors that create the black.Follow where the corn beckons you to go—into the other world of poetry and paintand dance and music. Hot jazz with a mariachi beat.

Chew that train that takes you deeper. Hop aboardthe tamale express and you will ride into yournew life. It will be like your old life magnifiedand lit by multicolored lights and the songs of merry-go-roundsand when you bite into your taco, it will tastelike cotton candy and a snow coneand your whole life afterwards will be a train that takes you nowhereexcept back into yourself—a Ferris wheelspinning you up to your heights and down again, with every turn,the gears creaking “Que le vaya bien.”I hope it goes well with youand that you see the lightwithin the shadowand the colorsin the corn.

About lifelessons

My blog, which started out to be about overcoming grief, quickly grew into a blog about celebrating life. I post daily: poems, photographs, essays or stories. I've lived in countries all around the globe but have finally come to rest in Mexico, where I've lived since 2001. My books may be found on Amazon in Kindle and print format, my art in local Ajijic galleries. Hope to see you at my blog.